Four guys from Atlanta had a dream. Twin brothers Brian and Brandon Casey, Kyle Norman and Richard Wingo formed the R&B/Hip-Hop act Jagged Edge. They sneaked in places where entertainment industry notables were to get a chance to sing for them. Now, their odyssey to worldwide fame has been featured on a new season of TV One’s “Unsung.”
“The first time we were introduced to Jermaine Dupri was at Jack the Rapper’s,” said Brian about their “discovery” moment.
“We sneaked in,” Wingo added laughing.
“We introduced ourselves. He said meet him at the bathroom,” Brian continued. “We waited 30 minutes, an hour, two hours. JD never showed up. We said we gonna show him. The second time was through Kandi [Burress of Xscape], who knows Wingo, they went to school together. We did a demo and he took it by to her.”
As it goes, Kandi knew Jermaine Dupri because her group Xscape was signed to his label So So Def. Group mate Tiny also spoke up for them to JD so he could listen to the group’s demo.
“To all our surprise,” the group said. “She fell in love with it. Sometimes we leave Tiny out of the story but she was part of making the relationship with Jermaine Dupri.”
Jermaine hit the scene with in the early 1990s releasing projects from Kris Kross, Da Brat and Xscape. It was his collaboration with Mariah Carey on “Always Be My Baby” that gave JD his first #1 song.
Through So So Def/Columbia Records Jagged Edge garnered three hit songs that still have them riding the success wave today — “I Gotta Be,” “Let’s Get Married” and “Promise.” On the TV One “Unsung” episode highlighting their career and journey to success the network interviewed Tiny and Kandi of Xscape; LaTavia Roberson, formerly of the group Destiny’s Child, who the guys toured with; Q Parker of the group 112 who they also toured with; songwriter/producer Bryan Michael Cox; radio personality The Poetess; JD’s father Michael Mauldin who was president of Columbia Records’ Urban Division, and the man himself Jermaine Dupri.
“Diffidently we are working,” said the group. “Every weekend … We have multiple tours offered. We pick what we want … when you don’t see us we still on the road.”
Jagged Edge also admitted that they own their name. An important thing to note in an industry full of people looking to not only take your name for profit but your image and public performance choices.
“For us we never wanted to be put in that position [to get ripped off]. We made sure we got a lawyer … we still got jerked but we are still maintaining. We are … self-contained. Black-owned, no A&R, no big label … it’s all us, our style. Some artists don’t own their names, we own Jagged Edge,” said the group concluding on a serious note.
The twins Brian and Brandon are also songwriters who have written for Usher and Toni Braxton. Jagged Edge is currently promoting their ninth project titled “The Lay-Over.” Their TV One “Unsung” episode aired Sunday, July 9 at 10 p.m. ET. Find out more on TV One’s “Unsung” episodes for this new season by logging onto www.TVOne.tv and for information on “The Lay-Over” or Jagged Edge upcoming performances, visit www.JEHeartBreak.com.
Eunice Moseley, has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with The Pulse of Entertainment and is a Public Relations Strategist and Business Management Consultant.